Red and the Wolf
by Jimmy-The-Girl
Summary: Mathew is going to try and get his stubborn grandmother to a doctor before its too late, but the path to her house is a long and dangerous. Not to mention this mischievous snowy haired boy that seems to have a knack for making things easier and then harder for Mathew all in just matter of minutes. Good thing he's got his red cloak to help him through his misadventures.
1. Chapter 1

Mathew couldn't really say that he didn't like being alone. He could really say that he did like. What he was sure of though, was that being alone wasn't as bad as people made it out to be. After only being a part of a real community for a few years, Mathew didn't know what he was missing, nor did he care that he was. He would be lying if he didn't sometimes wish that he was a part of something like that, to be somewhere like that, to mean something to someone.

But all childish dreams must be given up sometime. He wasn't completely alone either. He had his grandmother, his only living relative to his knowledge, and he might not even have her much longer. You see, she was very sick. Mathew had gotten word of her state of health and planned to take her back to the village with him and make sure she got some actual help from a real doctor. Not just the natural remedies Mathew knew. He would've done this a long time ago, but his grandmother was as stubborn as an ox. She was determined to live, eat, bathe and sleep in the house she lived in with his grandfather. So determined that she would die there if she had to.

Her house was located in the middle of nowhere, deep in the forest. Mathew had traveled the path many times and knew the trails like the back of his hand, he often had to bring a machete to hack away the brambles that grew over the path in large bushes. The forest was not only over grown and dark but it was also extremely dangerous because of the resident wild life. Large bears lived near the streams and napped in caves, they usually like to keep to themselves though. Mathew found that they were relatively good listeners if they had a pot of honey occupying their paws. _Never. Raw. Meat._

There was also small rodents, they weren't too much of a threat but if Mathew was bitten by one he would fall horribly Ill and a sickness like the ones they transmit may actually kill him. They didn't bother things too much bigger than themselves, but Mathew wasn't that big. Nevertheless Mathew still never trouble with the rodents living in the forest.

What he did have trouble with was the extremely hostile wolves that roamed the forest, they hunted and owned every inch of that forest. They were top of the food chain, so once you entered the forest, they were bound to find you. Once you're in they want a bite of you because at that point you're just another rabbit to them. Honestly, if it weren't for his grandmother Mathew would never even enter the forest. There was also rumors to there being witches and possibly some of their "creations" roaming about, but Mathew hardly believed in that hog wash.

Mathew sent out on his very dangerous mission to bring his grandmother to safety, locking his door and pulling his pack off the ground Mathew headed off. Since it was so early, all of Mathew's neighbors were still asleep. He lived in the quite part of the town, the part filled with prude old ladies and their promiscuous granddaughters. The one thing Mathew did like about the forest was the amazing lack of gossip. The sun was barely up and yet the air was dry and hot but lucky for him he made it to the shade of the forest quickly due to the fact that he lived in the outskirts _of the outskirts, _so it didn't take him too long to get to the more rural areas_. _Once at the entrance of the forest Mathew slung his pack off his shoulders to check its contents, he made a mental note to do this before he left his house next time. There was no way he could turn back now even if he did forget something important, if he did then by time he hit the center of the forest it would be about midnight, when the wolves were most active. And hungry. While he checked through his bag Mathew thought about taking his grandmother through the forest.

"_How would we get through the night? Let's see… so if I start right now I'd get to the halfway point, the center, and then stay one night in a tree or whatever happens to be open. Then I'd get to grandma's the next morning. Then I have to convince her to come with me before lunch time, I wonder if she even able to walk? I hope she's not too weak… well if she does agree to come then we'll end up a little before the halfway point just before midnight. We'd might have to take lots of stops depending on how sick she is… I hope she's ok, I don't know what I'd do if she died-" _

Mathew ripped himself from his thought and shouted out loud "She'll be fine!" despite the heat Mathew shivered a little as he pulled his pack back onto his shoulders and started into the forest. Making sure his machete was secured to his thigh as he walked. The beginning path was fairly cleared and bramble free, since the trees weren't very dense in this area the path was dappled with sunlight. Mathew enjoyed the shade as he walked along thinking about how nice this was if there wasn't any brambles up ahead. Or wolves. Or deathly ill grandmothers. Shivering again Mathew stopped and dropped his pack and quickly dug around for something.

He pulled out a bright red cloak and quickly clasped it around his neck. For the first time today Mathew smiled a bit as he continued his walk. His grandmother had made this for his father when he was younger, he even remembered the day his father was gifted with it. He wasn't close with his father but the thought of having something from his grandmother calmed him a bit, he'd have to take it off soon so he could hack through the brush without it getting caught on things, but he'd keep it on as long as he could.

Soon enough the fairy tale feeling of the forest was slowly faded, becoming more and more sinister with each step. Finally Mathew stopped and removed his cloak so he could attack the thorns grabbing at his pant legs.

He fell into an almost meditative state, it wasn't that it was relaxing but it was monotonous and repetitive so you fell into a grove pretty quickly. Stopping to wipe the sweat from his face Mathew took this opportunity to listen _very _carefully to the noises around him. Even though he didn't hear anything Mathew felt as if he was being watched.

Whipping around to look behind himself Mathew was horrified to see that there was… nothing there. Terrified at the thought that something might be _hiding and watching_ him Mathew froze, he listened more intently, using all his will power not to go running blindly through the brush and hopefully to his grandmother safe heaven. Tightening his grip on his weapon he began speaking to himself in low whispers "You need to stay calm, it too early for the wolves to be hunting in large packs, and you can handle one or two. You are strong. Level headed and- ce qui la baise! What was that?" a bush rustled to his right, just like you would imagine it before a huge monster came leaping out and eating you alive.

Suddenly something popped up from the bush efficiently scaring Mathew enough to make him shriek and jab his machete towards the intruder. Instead of a bear or wolf it was another person, and he was laughing so hard he was holding onto his sides and falling back into the bush. After Mathew realized what was going on he quickly became furious. "W-who do you t-think you are? What w-were you thinking?!" his questions only made the other laugh harder.

Finally the other was able to get a hold of himself and step out of the bush of course not without the over dramatic tear wiping. Though Mathew would be surprised if it was real, this guy really lost it.

"You looked so frightened, I couldn't help myself! Did you think I was a monster? Would it have been scarier if I growled?" he asked as he stepped closer to the path.

Mathew was going to answer but he was too busy being completely mesmerized. The boy in the bush was a full head taller than Mathew, he had bright red eyes and over one eye was a scar going from his eyebrow down to his cheek. His hair was lacking all color, just pure white. That is, besides the two burgundy colored ear twitching on top of his head. He also had a matching tail swishing behind him.

"Hello, little blond, anyone in there?" he asked as he took a few steps closer, reaching out towards Mathew cautiously. Mathew snapped back to reality and he quickly stepped back from the hand "Don't touch me."

"Well aren't we a friendly little thing?" he replied sarcastically.

"Me n-not letting myself be touch by… by a stranger makes me unfriendly?"

The other boy laughed "No, it makes you smart."

Mathew awkwardly stiffed his feet.

"Well I guess we should change that."

Suddenly on defense Mathew took a large step back and clutched his weapon tighter "C-change what?"

Other raised a brow "The whole stranger thing" he said while extending his hand for a handshake this time. Mathew looked from the hand back to the odd person standing in front of him, he wasn't sure if he wanted to shake his hand. But then again, he kinda did want to shake it.

Getting a hold of himself he straightened his back and as said "I-I was told never to talk to strangers."

Laughing a bit the other dropped his hand to his side "I see, well I guess I'll just go…" and he turned to leave, Mathew nearly called for him, he wasn't sure why but before the words could leave his mouth the other turned back around and put a in finger in a the air "Hold up, I think you forgot something."

Mathew gave him a questioning look but said nothing. "You," he started "were already talking to me. So that is already thrown out the window! Any other rules your mummy laid out that I should try and break?" he smirked and Mathew rolled his eyes.

"O-ok, thank you for the scare and the s-sarcasm but you c-can go now, really, just go." Mathew felt like slapping himself, why could he keep from stuttering? Yes this guys was strange but not at all scary, Mathew could take him if he needed. Mathew turned his back to the other and began whacking away at the brambles again. He chopped and moved the brambles away from his path for a minute before he glanced over his shoulder, the boy was gone. Mathew didn't know whether to be disappointed or relived but he was about done with himself and being so indecisive. Turning back around he continued the chore of removing brambles from his path.

"You know… I know a shortcut." A voice called from above him.

Mathew jumped and look up, lounging on a tree branch to his left was the white haired, red eyed boy with a swishing tail and perked ears. Mathew stayed silent for a while, he was consumed in his own thoughts _"A shortcut? How does he even know where I'm going? I didn't mention it did I…? No, I'm sure I didn't…" _Mathew locked eyes with the boy in the tree "Hey, how do you know where I'm going?"

"Well, I don't. Though I do know a few widely known facts. Like the fact that no one comes in this forest for fun, and the only real place to be going is either A, the hot spring or B, the old scary house that someone was crazy enough to build some years back. I know a shortcut to both. "

"Do you keep tabs on the forest's attractions?" Mathew asked, he felt panic rising in him. He didn't like the thought of this guy knowing where his Grandmother lived.

A cocky smile found its way onto the other boy's face and he chuckled "I suppose you could call me the forest's caretaker of sorts. It's my job to keep tabs on things."

So many questions demanded to be asked at once and Mathew couldn't sort out which ones were more important than others. He really didn't want to ask, he really didn't want this guy's help, and he really didn't want him to know where his grandmother lives! After a second of sorting his thoughts out he decided that a shortcut was a shortcut… but what kind or shortcut was it? Mathew stood awkwardly looking up at the other boy "Um, ok then… Well, where? How long would take to travel? Is it safe enough to travel? Does it have tall trees along the way? The center if the forest, how long does it take to get there using your shortcut? A-and what's the path like? Rocky, sandy? Is it covered it wet moss or something? Could, I don't know, an old lady-"

"Whoa there, no need to rapid fire questions at me! You talked so fast it sounded like a bird's song."

Mathew frowned "That's highly unlikely and what you said is most likely an extreme over exaggeration."

The other frowned "But bird songs are pretty…"

"What's t-that supposed to mean?" Mathew mentally cursed for letting himself stutter. Instead of answering the other just jumped down from the tree and landed next to Mathew. He extended his hand "Hello, my name is Gilbert. Would you like to see the shortcut?"

Mathew took his time to decide.

He took the hand and gave it a brief shake "My name is Mathew. Yes, p-please."

* * *

_**Thank you for reading! i hope you enjoyed it!**_

_**(Ok so going back through this i realized that there was a insane amount of missing words and just mess ups everywhere. I changed it a bit too, like Mathew's and Gilbert's conversation was made longer. So i edited it a bit, hopefully its easy to read through...) **_


	2. Chapter 2

Mathew follow silently behind Gilbert as he hummed an unrecognizable tune. He didn't know where he was taking him, well, it was supposed to be a shortcut but if anything he seemed to be leading Mathew out of the woods, instead of further into them. Mathew wasn't scared of the older boy but he did make him extremely uneasy and because of that it made it hard for him to ask questions, and he had a lot of questions.

Soon enough they stopped, there didn't seem to be an obvious reason to stop but Mathew hopped it meant he was gonna say something, the silence made him even more nervous.

"Ok, so… were here!" Gilbert announced while swinging his arms in a dramatic way towards a bush, he smiled and looked awfully proud of himself for presenting… a bush.

"Uh, w-were at a b-bush? I thought you were taking me to an shortcut!" Mathew said, he felt like an idiot. Never trust strangers, they're most likely crazy… He should've known, why else would anyone be strolling around in this forest unless you're crazy? It was obvious!

At first Gilbert looked a little offended but then quickly realized what was going on "Oh! Right, you're not one of us… here-" He pushed the bush aside to show a thin dear trail "-Is the real short cut! We hide it so wolves don't find it… Well if they really wanted to they could find it easily but they don't have a lot upstairs." Gilbert finished while tapping his forehead.

Mathew looked from Gilbert to the trail a few times before he finally decided to speak "A d-dear trail? Dose it go to where I need to be?"

"Well from the directions you gave me earlier it should take right to where you want to be." Gilbert said confidently. Mathew on the other hand wasn't so sure "And it's safer and faster?"

"Yes! It's safer and faster than the way you were gonna go, wolfies like to-"

"Hunt along the paths, I know. That's why it's so dangerous to travel on the paths at night, and they hunt along the paths because the rabbits and deer think they're safer because of the over-growing brambles and even ground. Though the wolves are good at ignoring the stings from the thorns as they run through them, they have a high pain tolerance, so it isn't as good as a plan as they think." Mathew said in a matter-of-a-fact way as he brought a shaky hand up to his shoulder.

Gilbert seemed surprised and smiled "Hm, you're no day hiker… Are you?"

Mathew fidgeted slightly, he didn't like the way the boy's gleamed "No I-indeed. I have a bit of an mission and I need to make sure you aren't leading me somewhere I'm not supposed to be going."

Gilbert smile turned wolfish "oh, I see… Well!" Gilbert pulled the bush aside further "There's only way to find out, kid."

Mathew didn't trust this guy at all, but he's already wasted enough daylight getting to this shortcut so he didn't really have another choice, turning back and going with his original plan is completely out of the question now. Mathew clutched a strap to his pack and walked past Gilbert and onto the path. The vegetation was tall and think, it felt like walking in a hedge maze, you can't see over the sides and there's no going through the walls either. Gilbert let go of the bush and it swished back into place, the noise caused Mathew to jump and turn to Gilbert with wide eyes. "Calm down, I ani't gonna eat you." Gilbert said with a laugh.

Mathew rolled his eyes "I'm not scared of you, I just-"

Gilbert stepped closer and leaned into Mathew face "You should be."

Mathew starred into the gleaming red orbs that this guy had for eyes and swallowed, it made a horribly obvious sound. The universal sound of a nervous individual.

Mathew stayed glue to his spot and Gilbert didn't seem to have any intention of moving anytime soon either, so Mathew decided to finish what he was gonna say in the first place "I just… Didn't know you were gonna be following me this far."

Gilbert shimmied past Mathew so he was the one in front "No, _you're_ still following _me_." He stood with his back to Mathew. Gilbert stretched his arms above his head and then pressed his fists into his upper back and bent backwards. Mathew watched as he stood again and yawned, it was as if he had completely forgotten the situation and was getting ready for a nap. Mathew was about to tell him to hurry up and get moving but something caught his eye… Gilbert had sharp canine teeth just like a bear or wolf. This fact quickly shut Mathew up and he waited with an impatient tapping foot.

"Ok, little blond! The time for questions is now. So go ahead and ask away!" Gilbert said with his back still turned.

Mathew blurted out the first question on his mind "Can we go know?"

"No more questions? Hm, ok, as you wish… But first you must listen to this simple rule. Never talk unless I talk to you first!" Gilbert turned and gave a gleaming smile, which would've been comforting if Mathew wasn't completely focused on the sharpened teeth that could easily tear the flesh of his bones. Mathew gave a wary smile back "h-huh?"

Gilbert looked nervous "Yeah, so listen. You don't talk unless you're spoken to… Like I'm a king and you're a servant!"

Mathew raised an eye brow and crossed his arms but stayed silent. His narrowed eyes should deliver the message well enough.

Gilbert bit his lip and seemed even more nervous but after a second it melted away and was replaced with a cocky grin and a gleam in his eyes "Ha! That sass… Yes, ok… Ready, little blond?"

Mathew rolled his eyes and nodded, and with that Gilbert turned and started leading Mathew along the thin path. After a few minutes of walking Mathew regretted his hasty choice of the questions running through his head. He could've asked a million other questions but of course he had to pick the one that would eliminate all other chances of asking more. Mathew was left completely to his thoughts and that only made the silence more painful.

"_I must be out of my mind right now. What am I even doing here? This guy could be luring me to my death and then grandma would really… No! No, I'm not thinking about that. Ok, so this way does seem safer. It's surrounded by thick walls of foliage… I wonder why this path looks so used, I thought only crazy people came into this forest? Heh, I guess that would make me crazy. Oh, well animals could use the trail… Is that what he meant when he said I wasn't 'One of them'? Because I'm not an animal?"_

Mathew stumbled a bit.

"_Wait… Is he an animal? Or human? It can't be a costume, or can it? How did he get like this?" _

Mathew could feel his chest begin to rise and fall much quicker and his palms became sweaty.

"_And his eyes and hair… an albino? Or maybe he's a demon! Or a witch's creation! Maybe I am gonna die today…! Oh come on, Mathew. That's ridiculous. Just because you don't understand it doesn't mean it's evil or unnatural. Just breathe, I'm sure there's a perfectly normal explanation for this wolf-boy Gilbert. Or fox. Or whatever." _

Gilbert paused and turned towards Mathew "Hey, are you ok?"

Mathew made an "Epp!" sound and nodded quickly, hoping to get the attention off of himself.

Gilbert gave him a confused look "Man, I don't know… you don't look so good. Did you eat anything from these bushes?" he asked while pointing to one of the bushes lining the sides of the path.

Mathew shook his head and clutched onto the strap of his pack with both of his hands.

"You know you can talk now right? Because started talking to you first."

Mathew only gave a sheepish smile.

Gilbert's face seemed to lose all emotion in a split second "Did… did you see something? Something scary?"

Mathew took a deep breath and held tighter to his bag "I-if you don't mind, I have a q-question."

Gilbert's features gained an excited-curious look "Ok, shoot."

Mathew straightened his back and looked directly into Gilbert's eyes "Um, I hope I'm not being rude… B-but what are you?"

Gilbert looked unfazed as he grabbed his crotch "I'm a dude."

Mathew covered his eyes and turned away "N-no! I didn't mean g-gender!" Mathew could feel his cheeks heating up "I just meant normal people don't have ears or tails! Or... or at least that's how it is where I come from."

Gilbert laughed "Man! You freak out over the littlest things!" He continued to laugh as he turned back around and continued walking, leaving Mathew's question hanging in the air.

Mathew decided he wouldn't ask that question again.

* * *

As they walked Mathew's head began to clear up, he began sorting out his thought and collecting his feelings. He was completely back in control of himself now. Though his mind often wandered back to the subject of Gilbert, Mathew was able to think about it with a clearer mind, so no more of those radical ideas were made, but everything about Gilbert still baffled Mathew. His ideas weren't much different but they didn't affect him so easily.

Mathew spent most of his time watching the back of Gilbert's ears and sometimes his tail, but he'd find himself blushing and returning his gaze back the ears.

"_Everything about him is almost normal. Well, I guess that came out wrong. What I meant is his arms aren't any longer then a normal human, he isn't too muscular either… maybe he lives in the forest. That would explain the slight lankiness, maybe the food is hard for him to find. He's pretty agile and quite, that little tree bit early proved it. He doesn't seem very strong. So if he did try to…" _Mathew could feel his anxiety coming back. _"Um, I could over power him easily it seems…" _Mathew decided to change the subject in his head _"I'm going to make it in no time with this shortcut! And then I'll get grandma back to the village and she'll be well again. We'll make pies and maybe adopt a cat or something. I think she'll like the Village, it's quiet and there plenty of women her age so even if she gets tired of me there'll be someone else to keep her entertained. She'd probably like my house too, it's small and cozy just like her cottage now… but mine is in better condition." _Mathew could feel his resolve grow stronger, he was determined to bring his grandmother back to the village. He was gonna save her.

Mathew made himself walk faster and prouder, he would get to his Grandmother's house in time to save her. There was no other option.

Suddenly Gilbert stopped, making Mathew walk into his twitching tail. Mathew felt the urge to sneeze but he pushed it down, he had a feeling that sneezing right now would be a very bad thing.

Gilbert's ears twitched and he slowly turned his head towards right, he tail had stopped swishing and stayed in a stiff position. It made Mathew think of a house pet he had when he was very young, a dog, the name escapes him at the moment but he clearly remembers that whenever someone would come to the door he would lay very still and perk his ear up, listening for danger.

Gilbert's whole being radiated danger. Mathew began to slowly pull his machete out of his holder on his thigh but Gilbert put a hand up, signaling him to stop. Mathew's mind was racing, Gilbert never _promised_ this path would be safe, he promised it'd be quicker. Then suddenly the air lost its thickness as Gilbert started walking again, Mathew felt as if he could breathe again.

Mathew walked closer to the snowy haired boy, he kept looking behind himself and he could feel himself falling back into a panicked state of mind, he lost all the confidence had a second ago. Mathew tapped Gilbert on the shoulder. Gilbert turned to see Mathew holding up one finger, asking him to wait up a second.

Mathew quickly crouched down and plopped his bag down in front of him, opening it up, he quickly dug through it. Gilbert watched with interest as he realized that the boy's pack was filled mostly with food and medical supplies, another knife came into view, a smaller one. Most likely for skinning animals or gutting fish. So the boy knew how to hunt.

Finally Mathew pulled some stuff out and placed the items at his feet, re-stuffed his bag and slung it back over his shoulder. Mathew stood and handed an apple to Gilbert.

Raising a brow, Gilbert gladly took the offering. Mathew held his apple awkwardly between his teeth as he picked up one more thing of the ground. His cloak.

His quickly secured it around his neck and gave Gilbert a thumbs up to let him know he was ready to move on.

"Hold up, kid." Gilbert said in a hushed voice "are you trying to get us spotted? Everything around you is green, you think red isn't going to stand out?"

Mathew blinked and wondered what they could were trying to hide from. He took a bite out of his apple, he spoke from the corner of his mouth "Yeah? And white blends in well?"

"What? White- hey! You didn't see me in that bush, and didn't I scare the crap out of ya? It fits in quite well!" Gilbert angrily said while still keeping his voice low.

"I'm not taking it off." Mathew finished and took a bite of his apple.

Sighing Gilbert turned and continued walking, apparently done with the conversation. He mumbled "White is an awesome color, you peasant" while he tugged at piece of hair hanging by his ear.

Of course Mathew heard it but he decided not to comment on it, considering it wasn't spoken directly towards him. As they walked Mathew slowly worked his apple down the core but it seemed as if Gilbert wasn't going to even touch his. Sometimes he'd glance back at Mathew and smirk, and nearly each time he did Mathew would either look away or avert his eyes. He really wanted to stick his tongue out at him but he thought that probably wouldn't be a very good decision.

Once Mathew finished his apple he wondered what to do with it, this guy obviously wasn't from the village, he was probably from the forest. Didn't he say he was the forest's caretaker?

He wondered if Gilbert would get offended if he dropped it on the ground. Was it littering? Even if it just melted into nurturance for the forest? Frowning Mathew tapped Gilbert on the shoulder once again and the other boy turned to him. Silently Mathew held up his apple core and gave a confused look, hoping it would convey his question.

Giving an even more confused expression, Gilbert took the apple from Mathew and chucked it into the brush.

Mathew blinked, turns out, he didn't mind. Or seem to care for the most part.

Gilbert continued moving forward while chuckling. Mathew's shoulders slumped, he felt like a fool. He tripped a bit on his cloak and frowned down at the ground. Now he felt like a little red riding fool.

Maybe that's why the other kept giving him wolfish smiles.

* * *

Mathew couldn't go another step. It was pitch black and still the other insisted they keep moving. Mathew could hardly see and was instructed to hold on to the back of Gilbert's shirt. It was humid and dark, Mathew was done. If he didn't stop soon he might pass out, he'd run out of water two hours ago and there wasn't any sign of finding anymore anytime soon. Mathew tugged on Gilbert's shirt but the other ignored him.

Mathew could feel a lump forming in his throat. He couldn't die of out here! His grandmother needed him, and he was almost positive that if he collapsed in exhaustion the snow haired boy wouldn't stop for him.

He tugged even harder on the other boy's shirt.

"Mathew, please…" he harshly whispered "I know you're tired, and we'll stop soon, but you have to push on for about twenty more minutes, please. Just get through this." He kept moving and Mathew stumbled along behind him.

Finally, after about 8 hours of non-stop walking Gilbert stopped. Mathew nearly cried when the other boy offered to carry him on his back, but just before he was going to jump onto his back, Mathew thought better of it. If this guy felt anything like Mathew did then he didn't want to make it harder for him. Mathew shook his head and although it was dark Gilbert seemed to have no trouble seeing the action, he did make a disapproving grunt, but other than that he stayed quiet and continued in the direction to wherever they were going. Mathew struggled along but refused to give in and beg for the piggy back he was offered only minutes before.

"_This guys was going to get me to my grandmother's quickly"_ Mathew thought, in fact, he repeated the thought over and over again. The thought didn't make him move faster to stand straighter, or even make him not want to cry, what the thought did do was make Mathew keep himself from collapsing.

Finally they stopped and Mathew heard a scraping sound, then Gilbert grabbed his hand and pulled him forward.

"There's a ladder." He whispered "Climb down, carefully now, don't fall."

Mathew quickly climb down the ladder, it was a fairly short ladder but Mathew still had trouble getting down it. He couldn't see anything inside where he was but his seemed to be a small cavern craved out of the ground. It was about the size of a coffin but slightly bigger and with a less tapered shape.

Mathew crawled towards the back of the space and felt blankets strewn all over the floor. The ceiling in this place wasn't very high, Mathew could just barely sit up straight. Not that he cared. There was a make-shift bed here! He quickly kicked off his boots and pushed his pack into a corner, pulling his cloak off, he bundled it up so he could use it as a pillow. The last thing he heard was the scarping sound before he fell asleep.

* * *

Mathew was shaken awake by a pair of hands.

"Yes, yes. I know, don't wake you up yet but I got some water. Come on sit up just a bit…"

Mathew couldn't remember where he was exactly but the voice speaking to him was talking about water! Pushing himself up on his elbows Mathew accepted the flask that was placed against his lips. He greedily drank, the water tasted so good, better than anything he's ever tasted in his whole life.

Once it was empty the voice asked if he wanted more, but Mathew shook his head and crashed back onto his fairly comfortable pillow. As he laid there things slowly started coming back to him. He was in a hidey-hole of some sort and the voice belonged to Gilbert, The wolf-human forest caretaker guy. He wasn't exactly sure.

Mathew scooted over when he felt the other crawling into the make-shift bed too. Mathew could feel himself slipping back into the oblivion of sleep.

A harsh whisper shocked him awake again "Can't you scoot over anymore?"

Mathew mumbled "No I can't, I don't think was made for two people…"

"It wasn't… but dude, unless you want me cuddling you in the night, you need to find a way to scoot over more."

Mathew was actually becoming aggravated, he just wanted to sleep, and who cares about what this guy wanted "You know what 'dude', I don't care what you do just shut up. I'm trying to sleep." He bit out every word and ended the sentence dripping in venom. He wasn't ready to be awake.

"Pssh, whatever. But if you wake up and freak out, I'm leaving you out here."

Mathew didn't respond as Gilbert move closer to him and wrapped one of his arms round his waist. He had already slipped into oblivion.

* * *

Mathew woke up and he was alone in the small cavern. He could see his flask leaning against his bag and he quickly crawled over to it, hoping it was filled. When he discovered it was he unscrewed the cap and guzzled down a good amount. As he checked to make sure everything was still in his pack, the memories of last night came rushing back to him. He could feel his cheeks heat up but he pretended to notice it, he was kinda rude to Gilbert about the whole sleeping situation.

Then he realized, he could see. Looking up he saw and opening in the roof. He stood up and peaked his head out. He was standing in a hole in the ground and there was a large flat rock to the left of the hole. After gathering up his stuff and putting his cloak on, he slowly climbed out of the craven. The hole was dug near the edge of a small clearing.

There was a small fire pit in the middle of the clearing and there was something wrapped in leaves sitting in the hot coals. Mathew stood near the entrance of the hole, just in case he had to jump back inside quickly. There was a path leading right through the clearing, in one side and continuing out the other. Besides that, he was completely surrounded by thick, tall brush and brambles.

Mathew looked around for Gilbert but there was no sign of him, did he ditch him?

"Ah, little blond is finally awake!" Mathew heard Gilbert say. Turning in a circle, Mathew tried to locate where Gilbert was speaking from.

"Where are you?" Mathew called into the open air.

"Are you scared? You hear me but you can't see me… I'm invisible, dude." Gilbert started making comical ghost noises. Mathew crossed his arms "Yeah, ok. But where are you?"

"Plaaaaces…" Gilbert's comical ghost voice answered.

Mathew laughed "Alright, alright… so what's cooking?"

Suddenly Gilbert walked up behind Mathew and roughly slapped his shoulder, making Mathew shriek.

"Its sweet potatoes!" Gilbert answered, pretending he didn't just scare Mathew half to death. Gilbert walked over to the hot coals and picked up a sick that was laying nearby, using that, he slowly rolled the packets towards the edge of the pit. Mathew sat himself down at the fire pit and watched as Gilbert tried to unwarp the packages without burning his fingers, he wasn't very successful.

"So, this is… uh…" Mathew started "Like, a resting zone?"

Gilbert didn't look up from the potatoes he was working with but he nodded his head "Yeah, kinda. We got places like these posted all over this forest, without them we would probably travel by trees… and that would suck!" Gilbert laughed at himself and past Mathew a steaming potato.

Mathew nodded but said nothing as he began picking at the package in his hand. They continued to eat in silence. Mathew thought about offering some of his food out but if he didn't need to break into his reserves right now he'd keep it that way, they might need it later.

"We?" Mathew questioned after a while.

Gilbert looked confused as he spoke from the corner of his mouth "What do you mean 'we'?"

"You said 'we have these resting spots posted everywhere.' That means there was a group or something, so whose 'we'?" Mathew spoke while keeping his eyes on the bright orange potato in his hand, he tried to sound easy going and nonchalant. People spoke easier when they didn't feel pressured.

Gilbert laughed "It's no one you need to worry about. Any other questions?"

Mathew smirked "Yes actually… Why couldn't I talk when we were walking on the trail but I can talk now?"

"Because this is a safe zone." Gilbert said, almost mimicking Mathew's nonchalant voice.

"Safe from what?"

Gilbert snorted "Dangerous stuff obviously."

Mathew saw nothing funny about this situation but he didn't have it in him to glare at his guide or make an angry remark. "Alright fine, don't tell me… But why are you helping me?"

Gilbert finally looked up from his breakfast "I don't know, but aren't you glad I am?" He flashed Mathew a smile, making it clear that to Mathew again that Gilbert had long, sharp canine like teeth.

Mathew shivered slightly and returned to attention to his food "My back isn't so thankful…" he mumbled. Gilbert smile crashed "Whatever, you need me and you know it." He tore into his potato and sucked the pieces out from under his nails. Which were very long, almost claw like actually. Mathew couldn't help but stare at them. Mathew hadn't thought this through all the way… Yes, this way was faster, but was it safer? And who exactly was his guide? He took steps to make sure that Mathew was protected from the "Dangerous stuff" but did that didn't exactly exclude him from that group. Mathew set the still steaming vegetable on the ground on front of him, which gained the attention of the other.

"What?" Gilbert asked "Do you not sweet potatoes? They're like my favorite dirt rock thing-"

"No… no it's not that." Mathew began "It's just you're weird."

Gilbert scowled at Mathew "Hey! That's not very nice to say!"

Mathew frowned "But am I wrong?"

Gilbert returned to his meal "Hm, I guess not, but it's still not nice to point out, little- Hey I can't see your hair if you keep your hood on like that!" Gilbert reached over to pull the hold down but Mathew leaned back out of reach. Mathew did it out of fear, he knew he did. Noticing Gilbert's nails, or claws, made him even more wary of the person sitting across the fire.

Hurt flashed through Gilbert's eyes but he laughed anyways "Alright, alright. I guess I can't call you little blond anymore."

Mathew felt awful, he didn't mean to hurt Gilbert's feelings but it was just an automatic reaction. He didn't just move away from his touch, he recoiled.

"How about little blue?" Mathew asked, hoping it would make Gilbert smile or at least wash that look from his eyes.

"Little blue?" Gilbert asked with a mouth full of potato.

Mathew smiled widely at the scene in front of him, a big bad wolf man was sitting crisscross-apple-sauce while digging into a sweet potato. He had little pieces stuck to his fingers and cheeks, he wasn't a very clean eater but nevertheless he clearly enjoyed the food.

"Yeah, like my eyes!" Mathew declared happily, he thought it was a great nickname, and to be honest he's always wanted a nickname.

But unlike Mathew, Gilbert didn't like it as much and frowned "Nah, your eyes are too weird."

"Excuse me?" Mathew asked in a very offended tone.

"See? Being called weird is mean… And I just mean that your eyes change colors too often. One second their blue and then their purple or kinda grayish or whatever."

"Oh… I didn't realize they did that." Mathew said and took a bite out of his potato.

"Little red."

"What?" Mathew said looking up from his meal.

"I'll call you little red because of your cloak." Gilbert smiled "I'm sure that'll never lose its color!"

Mathew lifted an edge of the cloak up and examined it. He'd seen it million times before but he felt compelled to see it again, slowly he brought the edge of the cloak up to his face and placed it against his cheek. Gilbert watched Mathew's hand raise with wide eyes and he blinked a few times when he saw Mathew snuggle it against his face. "W-what are you doin'?" Gilbert asked as he kept his eyes glued to Mathew's hand.

Mathew took no notice to Gilbert's strange reaction and dropped the edge and smiled "Yeah, ok. Little red it is!"

* * *

**_Wow, ok... this took forever to write down. I don't know why but it was really hard for me to pin down they're characters this time. I feel like they're a bit OOC (Out Of Character) in this story. Well, nevertheless, I hope you enjoyed reading this and thank you oh-so-much for reading this! Sorry for any grammar or spelling mistakes, I try re-reading it a few times to make sure but its almost like imprinted in my mind. So I just see what I was meaning to write instead of the mess up. So yeah, thanks for reading!  
_**


	3. Chapter 3

Again Mathew silently walked behind Gilbert. He'd tucked his cloak away due to the heat, despite the thick-dark atmosphere of the forest, it was surprisingly humid. Like a jungle. This of course made Mathew wonder, though he was used to it being slightly warm in the forest, it usually gets colder the further in you went, but this time, while using the shortcut, it seemed to be getting hotter. Were they even going the right direction? Mathew thought about asking but Gilbert didn't seem in the talkative mood. The taller boy's tail was stiff and his ear were alert, he seemed on edge and his pace kept getting faster and faster. Mathew was beginning to worry about him bolting off and leaving Mathew to figure is way out of the forest on his own.

Mathew was having to jog to keep up with the albino's stride. _"Not good… he looks like he's gonna run off any second now. Curse my short legs. If he does run off how will I know where to go? I'm not even sure I'm going the right way. I'll probably die out here without him… I hate having to depend on someone else, especially when it's a stranger. Well, I guess he's a friend, sorta. I suppose he just sees me as someone he leading through the woods though, so I guess he's just a forest guide to me too… maybe." _

While in mid thought Mathew tripped over his own feet and fell forward, but as if he'd known it was going to happen, Gilbert whirled around and steadied Mathew.

"Easy there, little red." Gilbert murmured in a low voice before turning back around and continued on, but this time, he slowed down a bit. He often glanced over his shoulder to, make sure was wasn't going to fast? That Mathew was still following him? The small blond wondered over the reason for some time before he realized that Gilbert wasn't looking back at him, but behind Mathew. He was checking to make sure they weren't being followed.

A million thoughts ran through Mathew's mind, he didn't have a clue as to what could be following them because whatever it was it didn't make any noise. No stamping hooves from an aggravated elk, or growls from a bear, or even the snarling of a wolf… The only noise was the sound of their boots meeting the packed dirt of the trail and the heavy breathing of the small blond. The birds had stopped singing too. Mathew could feel his panic rising, the adrenaline began pumping in his veins. Every part of Mathew was screaming run. But instead he automatically reached out and grasped onto the back of Gilbert shirt. Gilbert froze and mechanically turned to look and the small blond clutching onto the back of his shirt "W-we can't stop." Gilbert whispered.

Mathew ignored him and dug into his bag. Luckily his cloak was placed on top so he quickly secured it around his throat before slinging his pack back onto his shoulder. With a wary smile, Mathew gave Gilbert a quick nod to signal him that he was good to go.

But Gilbert didn't pay attention to Mathew's silent signal, he had turned his face to the wind and closed his eyes. The taller boy was standing bone stiff and his ears were the only thing that moved, slightly twitching in different directions every once and awhile. Suddenly Gilbert's eyes snapped open. He then smoothly turned to Mathew and grabbed him by the shoulder and swept him behind himself in one quick movement just as something crashed out of the brush behind them. Gilbert was deliberately blocking Mathew from the thing, he didn't know why, but Mathew felt his blood run cold when he when he heard its steady breathing. It sounded like a bull.

Mathew wanted to know what it was so badly, he wanted to look out from behind Gilbert and see the sinister beast they'd been running from, but he couldn't bring himself to do much more but bury his face into the back of the albino's shirt and cursed himself for not being braver.

Gilbert scoffed "Don't you guys ever give up?"

Mathew was in full blown panic mode. _"Guys? As in human, or intelligent beast? As in plural? As in more than one? I can't take on more than one at once!"_

A strong deep voice answered back "Only one 'guy' today, wolf."

Gilbert stuck his hip out and scoffed again "Yeah right, you guys always travel in packs like the gay lords you are."

A barking laughter replied "A wolf is one to talk about traveling in packs."

Gilbert shrugged "Not really a good comeback considering I'm always alone."

It was the other man's turn to scoff "I don't believe you get it, Gilbert. We're hunting you. Were gonna catch you. Were gonna kill you. Today you just get a message though, we know you have a hostage, and were gonna rescue him without any harm coming to him!" the man said the last part loudly so Mathew could hear him better.

Gilbert laughed "You're still gay, Ludwig."

"_They know each other's names? And he's just letting him off with a warning? What is he, a park ranger?"_ Mathew wondered. This time he couldn't help himself and he peeked out from behind Gilbert. The man was huge and there probably wasn't an inch of him that wasn't cover in muscle. He was dressed in a pair of camouflage cargo pants and a skin tight black tank-top, his boots went up to his knees and he also had a large pack on his back. A huge pack. Mathew wondered what could be in that giant pack and how a man this size with a pack that size didn't make any noise while tromping through this thick brush. He had sharp blue eyes and they immediately focused on Mathew, his square jawline clenched "Going after little girls now, hm, Gilbert? You're getting to a very sad level."

Gilbert laughed "You have no room to talk with your girly sidekick."

Ludwig's eyes darkened "He's not girly!"

Gilbert took a step forward and jabbed a thumb over his shoulder "And neither is he!" Mathew followed Gilbert's movements.

Ludwig seemed embarrassed "I'm sorry sir."

Mathew stuck a thumbs up out quickly before he tucked it back behind Gilbert. This made Gilbert chuckled and Ludwig frown.

"Boy!" Ludwig called "Why don't you try to get away? Why are you hiding behind that beast?"

Mathew had been asking himself this question throughout this entire conversation. He'd been called a hostage and Gilbert had done nothing to deny it, he'd been told he'd be rescued and yet he still didn't feel like he needed any help.

Mathew peaked out from behind Gilbert again "He's taking me to my grandmother's and… And I-I trust him for some reason." he could feel Gilbert stiffen but he pretended not to notice.

Ludwig extended his hand out "This wolf cannot be trusted, he's an animal for god's sake! Please, come with me and my team will escort you to your grandmother's."

Mathew looked up at Gilbert with a face full question but Gilbert's only answer was a glance down at the shorter boy before shrugging him off coldly, stepping aside he mumbled "Do what you what, I don't care about what you do."

For some reason the words stung but Mathew said nothing, he simply stood where Gilbert left him, looking straight ahead at the taller man "I'm s-sorry, but I don't want to go with you..."

Ludwig's expression turned grim as he nodded "Once you realize who this animal really is, you'll regret your decision, but hopefully by then we'll already be rescuing you."

Ludwig nodded a 'good-day' to Mathew and walked in the opposite direction to where they were going, sending a glare back over his shoulder at Gilbert. Mathew turned towards Gilbert with a blank face and emotionless eyes. Gilbert on the other hand looked dumbfounded. Mathew adjusted his cloak and started along the path again "We've lost enough time, let's keep moving."

Gilbert laughed and caught up to Mathew "Are you scared?"

Mathew smirked and nodded "Yep."

Gilbert laughed again "You know, it takes a lot of courage to admit you're scared… So I think you're lying to me."

Mathew chuckled a bit and held up with hand as they walked, his hand was trembling.

Gilbert nodded "I see… You know, He's gonna show up again. He's gonna 'save you from the beast', he'll be showing up again with his team."

Mathew's smirk grew "The only thing I'm scared of is wolves."

Gilbert looked laughed and he gestured to himself.

"There's a difference."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow "You're the first to think so."

Mathew shot a wary glance at Gilbert "I don't consider you an animal, but I don't consider you human either."

Gilbert frowned "Then what do you consider me?"

"A friend."

Gilbert looked surprised but stayed silent, but if you glanced over at him at the right time, you'd catch him with the corners of his mouth turned up.

* * *

Ludwig broke out of the brush and into a large clearing. Several tents were pitched up and large crates were scattered about the camp. A large fire blazed in the center of the camp with large metal pot was suspended above the flame, making the whole camp smell of cooking food.

"Onions?" Ludwig murmured to himself as he approached the pot, lifting the lid he inhaled "Mmm, smells good Feliciano…"

A high voice sounded behind him "Ve~ Thanks, Luddy!"

Ludwig turned around and, as expected, his team was standing behind at attention… Well some of it. Feliciano, a small happy Italian, stood next to Kiku, a thin Japanese man. Ludwig towered above both of them, sighing, he wondered how he got stuck with these guys.

"Please, Feliciano, call me Ludwig." Ludwig asked crossly. Kiku remained silent but his eyes shifted between the small brunette and the tall blond.

"B-but Luddy-" Feliciano whined.

"No buts! My name is Ludwig, please call me that." Ludwig said and then briskly left the fire, he was hoping to find the rest of his team.

Glancing over his shoulder back towards the men standing by the pot he saw that Kiku held Feliciano's hand in his own and patted it gently "It's just a lover's spat, Feli, he's just irritated because we haven't caught Gilbert yet…" to which the Italian respond with a sad nod.

Ludwig stared straight ahead and blushed brightly "Lover's spat… Ha…" Ludwig murmured as he approached the flap of a tent. Throwing the flap open, he found the rest of the team sleeping in a mass of limbs and snores. Ludwig thought back to the smaller men standing by the fire "Maybe they're not so bad after all…"

Ludwig marched into the tent "Get up!" he barked "We need to have a team meeting, you lazy ass-"

"There's no need to yell, Mr. Ludwig…" a soft voice cut him off "I am awake." From the back of the tent stood a man about the same height as Ludwig, his large coat making look as if he had the same build too, he always wore his coat and his beloved pink scarf, he never took them off despite the heat. He also always had a small smile on his lips, which was unnerving to Ludwig.

"Oh, Ivan… It good to see you're awake." Ludwig said as the Russian made his way to the front of the tent, he was careful not to step on any of his sleeping teammates. "If you don't mind me asking, Ivan, but why are you all sleeping in the same tent?"

Ivan step out of the tent next to Ludwig and placed a finger over his own lips and smiled "I told a scary story." He giggled before walking over to the campfire with the other two males, who shrunk back as he approached. That still didn't really answer Ludwig's question but he let it go and got to work waking up the rest of the team members.

* * *

Once the members were awake Ludwig stood in front of all of them by the fire.

"Roll call!" Ludwig started "Feliciano!"

"Ve~" The Italian answered while raising a hand.

Ludwig nodded at his teammate and shouted the next name "Kiku!"

"Here." The raven haired man responded formally.

"Arthur!"

Arthur, who was a brit of medium build with sandy blond hair, stood with his hands on his hip. He scowled "Yeah, I'm here… But is this really necessary? I mean were all standing in front of you-"

"Ivan!" Ludwig interrupted, causing the brit to cross his arms and glare at the man in front of him, murmuring things like "I don't understand while you're in charge, I'd be a better leader." or "Bloody wanker, takes everything so formally…"

Ivan smiled wider and raised a metal pipe in the air "I'm right here!"

Ludwig raised a brow "Ivan… Where you get that pipe?"

The Russian brought in down to his eye level and inspected it as if he'd never seen it before "My coat."

"Y-your coat?" Kiku asked.

Ludwig cut in before Ivan could answer "No matter, let's continue… Alfred?"

"The hero is right here!" Alfred said while hopping into the air and laughing loudly.

"Shut up, Alfred, you gonna attract animals to the camp!" Arthur snapped

"Whatever dude, there's nothing to worry about with me around… I can kill a bear with my bear hands." Alfred said while shoving his hands into Arthur's face.

"Get your dirty mitts out of my face, you tart!" Arthur exclaimed while shoving Alfred hands away.

Ludwig cleared his throat "Are you two done?"

Alfred laughed "Dude can't take a joke!"

Ludwig sighed _"It's like babysitting…"_

Feliciano was fiddling with the soup while Kiku crouched at his side, they spoke quietly so they didn't disrupt the roll call more than it already had been. Ivan sat on a log and smiled absently at nothing while Arthur glared at Alfred from the corner of his eye. Ludwig grabbed the bridge of his nose "Alright, Francis and Yao?"

"Yao here!" Called the man at the end of the line, his sleeve hung over his hands so when he raised his hand to announce himself, the sleeve fell down to his elbow.

"I'm here too..." Francis said, he was the only one who didn't seem fully awake, he'd yawned, stretched and grumbled all through the roll call so far. He noticed the questioning look that Arthur was sending him and Francis frowned "Ludwig interrupted my beauty sleep! So excuse me if I'm a bit tired!"

"You're gonna need a lot more the beauty sleep to be even slightly appealing…" Arthur said under his breath with a snicker. Francis marched past Ivan, Yao and Alfred to step in front of Arthur's face "What was that?"

"I said-" Started Arthur, but he was quickly cut by Ludwig clearing his throat again "Please! Will you all just shut up and listen? I made contact with the hostage today!"

Everyone fell silent and focused their attention to the German in front of them.

Yao was the first to step forward "Is she alright?"

Ludwig scratched the back of his head "She's actually a he…"

"I knew it!" Francis cheered "So is he alright?"

Ludwig nodded "He seems perfectly unharmed, but… it was odd…"

"What was odd?" Alfred asked "Did he looked weird of something?"

Ludwig shook his head "No, he looked normal… but he wanted to stay with Gilbert."

"Wait…" Arthur stepped forward "You mean he didn't want to be saved from that beast?"

Ludwig shrugged "I'm not really sure but… I think he was brainwashed, because I don't know any human in their right mind who would willing stay with him."

Feliciano hugged himself to Ludwig's arm "Maybe their friends!"

Kiku spoke this time "Gilbert might've gotten his hands on a witches potions."

Ivan helped elaborate by suggesting the use of hypnotism. "Yeah! Man, this dude could be totally getting crafty!" Alfred exclaimed.

"Wait!" Yao said "What does Mr. Kirkland think?"

"Yes! Aren't you a bit of an expert Arthur?" Francis asked.

Arthur, who'd been silent throughout the entire conversation, was looking thoughtfully into the distance "I don't think it's either… I was there with Ludwig when the boy was discovered and I didn't feel any magic in the area. I think Feliciano has made the best guess so far, maybe they're friends." everyone turned to Feliciano who was smiling widely at the idea that he might be right.

Ivan placed a hand on Feliciano's shoulder, suddenly appearing behind the small brunette, making Feliciano freeze up. "I think…" Ivan started "That Feli is on the right track, don't you guys think?"

Ludwig frowned "Maybe… But the idea itself is highly unlikely, but maybe…"

"Maybe…?" Kiku encouraged.

Ludwig continued "Maybe he's not the actual hostage."

"What?" Alfred asked.

"I mean, maybe he's just a guise… Maybe the real hostage is a friend of the little red and he's only going along with Gilbert's plan in hope to save said friend." Ludwig said.

"But why go through all that trouble of getting two hostages?" Feli asked.

"Cooperation!" Yao declared.

Ivan moved away from Feliciano and sat back down onto the log "Ah, i see, because if your friend is in danger you won't try to run away or get outside help. Because now, not only is he holding a hostage against us, but a hostage against him too. So he'll do whatever he says without a second thought, because his first thought is always gonna be of his friends safety." Ivan said pleasantly.

"Oh my god…" Alfred breathed "That's horrible, man! We gotta save that kid."

Feliciano agreed and clung tighter to Ludwig's arm. In fact in a matter of minutes they all agreed and decided that the time to take action, was now.

* * *

Mathew gasped when the broke through the brush and were standing at the outskirts of his grandmother's house "That was incredibly quicker!" Mathew exclaimed as he started towards the house. Gilbert only relaxed his stance and smiled as the red cloaked boy rushed to the door.

Gilbert watched as he opened the door and rushed inside. "He certainly is a determined little guy… God what am I doing? I don't escort little kids to their grandmother's house! I'm big and bad… I'm a monster…" Gilbert turned to leave "Oh well, I got little red to his granny so I guess I'll just blow this Popsicle stand!"

Gilbert hummed a tune as he made his way back along his path, his tail swung along with the tune, he seemed perfectly content. Though inside his head he was having a war with himself, one half of him screamed to get out of here quicker and that he never should have offered to help Mathew in the first place. The other half is begging him to go back, reminding him how long it's been since someone wasn't afraid of him. At the moment Gilbert was trying to tune out both of his sides out by humming a tune, and it seemed to be working… He hummed a song about a little bird who was learning to fly but begins to plummet to the ground and just before he hits it he recused by an unlikely hero, a snake. The poor bird is so scared the he twitters and tweets until he realizes he's in no danger. The snake and him eventually become friends and the little bird sings so him every day. Until one day the snake gets hungry and the bird is asleep in the snake's coils, so he helps himself to his feathered friend.

"_Then what do you consider me?" _

"_A friend." _

Gilbert tripped over his feet and crashed to the ground. Gilbert groaned and pulled himself to his feet "Damn…"

"_A friend." _

"God, stop!" Gilbert covered his ears "I don't want to hear that shit again!" Gilbert squeezed his eyes shut until the echo of Mathew's words died off. Letting out a sigh, Gilbert cursed himself and turned back towards the cottage. Just as he was about to break through the brush again he heard voices. Gilbert froze.

"I don't know, Yao, that wolf could be hiding anywhere… maybe he eat both the Granny and the boy?"

Gilbert's eyes widened and his lips mouthed their names. "Yao and Ivan, oh god, is the whole team here? Where's Mathew? Did they get Mathew? Was it a trap all along and now they got Mathew? What about his grandma, did Mathew help his grandma?"

Yao laughed "Yeah right, I'm pretty sure he grew out of that… Now come on, we have to keep looking, hopefully he bolted like he usually does and we can just take Mathew back with us."

Gilbert's breath caught in his throat "So they already got little red?"

Gilbert could feel all common sense drain from his body, every ounce of self-control gone with it, the only thing that he could make sense of was two words... two words that drove his body to move, to take action. "A friend."

Gilbert bolted from the brush and towards the two men, a snarl working its way out of his throat. Gilbert erupted out of the shadows and tackled the smaller male to the ground. The entire thing happened in slow motion for Gilbert.

The surprise on Yao's face was delicious, the yelp the followed it was even more so. From the corner of his eye he could see Ivan recoil back. Yao fell backwards and smashed his head on the hard packed ground, his eyes bulged along with the strangled choking that came from his throat as Gilbert body weight pressed all the air out of the smaller man's body. Gilbert brought his hand up and he could feel his claws extending, and what a lovely feeling it was to have them out. Just as he was about to bring them across the Yao's throat, a whistling sound caught his attention. While his hand followed the commanded his brain was giving it, Gilbert turned his head towards to sound.

Ivan had a large metal pipe with a facet at the end of it and it was coming right towards Gilbert's head. Gilbert sprung off Yao's body before he could do any real damage, just scraping across his throat.

The world returned to its normal speed and along with it all his common sense. Gilbert ears fell flat against his head when he looked down at the man he'd just tackled. He had deep gashes on his thighs and shoulders when Gilbert hands and feet had landed when he'd jumped on him, though his neck wasn't seriously damaged, it was more damaged than he'd originally thought. He did that, this man was seriously hurt because of him. He needed to help but his body froze.

Ivan knelt down next to his friend and pressed his hands against the gashes, he was saying something to Yao but Gilbert wasn't able to hear anything other than the ringing in his ears. He could see Yao's lips move in response. Then Ivan stood, he was ready. He wanted Gilbert to rush him too. He wanted to fight.

Gilbert could feel something rising up in him.

He wasn't sorry and he had nothing to be ashamed of, they took Mathew, right? So now it was payback time. Gilbert stood taller and a cocky smirk found its way onto his face "You wanna go, you pansy ass?"

Ivan's usually smiling face was set into a hard unreadable look of determination "You hurt my friend, so now I'm going to do the same to."

Gilbert gave Ivan a mock loving look "You understand me!"

Ivan raised an eyebrow.

Gilbert slowly stalked towards the taller man "You see you took my friend… So someone is getting fucking punished. Were on the same page, big guy."

Ivan smiled just slightly "I'm glad, that way when I kill you our page will be decorated with your blood, almost like a bookmark, so I'll never forget the look of death on your face when I slit you open."

"How poetic… but I wouldn't be so sure that the blood will be mine, huntsmen." Gilbert smirked confidently and rushed forward. Maybe Mathew could be the bird in the song and Gilbert could be the snake… Gilbert just hoped the story didn't end the same way.

* * *

**_So wow I suddenly got this idea for this story annnnd its gonna become kinda actiony... So yeah, I guess this will be fun to try and pull off! Sorry of you were excepting super-fluff-fairy tale- story. That was the original plan but, really, hardly anything goes as planned. _**

**_So yeah! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please excuse any mistakes, I suck a editing, just bottom line. Also thank you for reading! Have an awesome day you guys!... Or night... or whatever time of day it is where you live... So yeah! _**


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